The bottom line is clear: Our vital interests in Afghanistan are limited and military victory is not the key to achieving them. On the contrary, waging a lengthy counterinsurgency war in Afghanistan may well do more to aid Taliban recruiting than to dismantle the group, help spread conflict further into Pakistan, unify radical groups that might otherwise be quarreling amongst themselves, threaten the long-term health of the U.S. economy, and prevent the U.S. government from turning its full attention to other pressing problems. -- Afghanistan Study Group

Monday, August 20, 2012

The DoD is reporting a new death previously unreported
by the military. Spc. James A. Justice died at
Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, Germany on Friday,
August 17th. He was wounded in a small arms fire attack in Wardak province,
Afghanistan on Tuesday, August
14th.

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from a non-combat related injury in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Saturday, August 18th.

The NZDF is reporting the deaths of three ISAF
soldiers from a roadside bombing in the North West of Do Abe, on the road to
FOB Romero, Bamyan province, Afghanistan on Sunday, August 19th. Here’s the ISAF
release.

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from
small arms fire by an Afghan police officer in an undisclosed location in
southern Afghanistan on Sunday, August 19th.

Reported security incidents#1: American drones fired a flurry of missiles in a Pakistani tribal area bordering Afghanistan Sun-day, killing a total of 10 suspected militants, Pakistani officials said. In the first strike, missiles fired from unmanned American spy planes hit two vehicles near the Afghan border, killing at least seven militants, Pakistani officials said. About 10 hours later on Sun-day, two missiles destroyed a home also in the Mana area, killing three militants, the officials said.

#2: The former Sindh Assembly lawmaker, Raheem Baksh Jamali, who was shot and injured in a mosque in Shaheed Benazirabad (formerly Nawabshah) on Sunday, succumbed to his wounds on Monday in a Karachi hospital, Geo News reported. Reportedly, unknown gunmen attacked a mosque-bound Jamlai, who was observing Itikaf – an Islamic practice consisting of a period of retreat in a mosque during the month of Ramadan, especially the last ten days. According to reports, the attackers, four in number, who knew exactly where to find him, got him in the main mosque in Cooperative Housing Society in Shaheed Benazirabad at 5:30 AM in the morning.